


Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

by hhertzof



Category: Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Smith Audios
Genre: Gen, Remixed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-15
Updated: 2010-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-07 07:14:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hhertzof/pseuds/hhertzof
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For renn in the Sarah/Harry fic exchange. In which Harry meets Jack.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scenes from an Italian Restaurant

**Author's Note:**

> The lyrics are from _Scenes from an Italian Restaurant_ by Billy Joel.
> 
> This story was remixed for in 2009 by paranoidangel.

_A bottle of white, a bottle of red  
Perhaps a bottle of rosé instead  
We'll get a table near the street  
In our old familiar place  
You and I - face to face_

Sarah ran into him in the entryway of Il Tartufo, the Italian restaurant where she had her annual meeting with Harry. She was already running late due to Luke's recent habit of dawdling, which she blamed completely on Clyde's insistence that it was typical teenage behaviour. Thankfully, she'd finally got him packed off to Clyde's house for the night (and heaven knew what Luke would have picked up when he returned the next morning), and had made the mad dash through rush hour traffic, so that she could meet Harry for their annual dinner. If he showed up. After all, he hadn't in such a long time.

Instead she ran into Jack Harkness of all people, and quite literally. Slammed right into him as he walked past the door. At least she'd slowed down enough that the momentum didn't knock him off his feet, though he did teeter a bit. Sarah muttered an apology, not even noticing _who_ she had bumped into until he turned and said, "Sarah Jane Smith. What's the hurry, ma'am?" He looked hopeful, as though she were about to tell him that there was a horde of marauding aliens at her heels. She was almost sorry to disappoint him.

"Not a crisis of epic proportions, I'm afraid. I'm supposed to be meeting a friend for dinner, and I'm late." Harry would say he didn't mind, but she knew he did. Just another reason why things would never work out between them.

She was about to continue, but was interrupted by a polite cough from the maître d', who was looking surprisingly serene, despite her slapdash entrance. "Ms. Smith. Your companion has already arrived. If you will follow me?"

Sarah turned to follow, then turning back, grinned mischievously at Jack. "Why don't you come along and meet him? We have a _mutual friend_ in common." She had no intention of letting Jack invite himself to join them for dinner; she merely wanted to see Harry's reaction when the other man started flirting with him. It might make up for the disadvantage of her lateness.

"Don't mind if I do." He followed Sarah and the maître d' into the depths of the restaurant and she caught him unabashedly ogling both their arses out of the corner of her eye.

And it was Harry at the table. It had occurred to Sarah that it might not be. The last time she'd been here she'd been alone, but two years ago she had met Will Sullivan and then Josh Townsend had shown up.

"Harry," she grinned. "I heard a rumour that your current assignment had finished." She wanted to jump up and down and hug him, but she wasn't about to give Jack ammunition, or let slip anything that she shouldn't.

He was already standing to pull out her chair, and for once she didn't tease him over it. It had been so long since he'd done it, that she almost missed it. Besides, it was so _Harry_.

"You look well, Sarah. But how would you know anything about my current assignment?" Harry said gravely, though he was smiling at her and the way his eyes caught hers showed that he approved of her restraint.

"I've got contacts," Sarah replied cryptically. In this case, Martha Jones. "Oh, Harry, have you met Jack Harkness? Jack, this is Harry Sullivan."

To her eternal amusement, Harry turned a deep shade of red, and Jack let out a chuckle before saluting. How she managed to keep a straight face, she wasn't certain, but she was quite amused by Jack's obliviousness. Sarah almost regretted knowing that Harry was 100% heterosexual-- another titbit confirmed by Martha.

"You're still looking quite fit, sailor." Complete with patented Jack Harkness eye-twinkle. Clearly this was _not_ the first time they had met, or that Jack had flirted with Harry.

"Sir." Harry saluted back, though his colour had not returned to normal. He caught Sarah's eye.

But before Sarah could speak, Jack grinned and shook Harry's hand. "It was good seeing you both again, but my party has arrived so I must take my leave." After a flirtatious look at Sarah and a quick, "Still looking good, ma'am," he headed back to the front of the restaurant.

Sarah was mildly disappointed to see that his _date_ for the evening was Ianto, but appreciated the rather lingering kiss he gave the other man, despite-- or perhaps because of Harry's obvious discomfort.

"I hadn't realised you two had met before."

"I worked with Torchwood on a project back in the 80s, before we lost the funding. And how do _you_ know him?" Harry added suspiciously.

In a way, that made Sarah wish she _could_ claim to have slept with Jack. "It's not what you think. He's another former companion of the Doctor who I met during the Dalek invasion. The Doctor says hello, by the way. And I'm very sorry about your brother." Best to get _that_ out of the way now, and given Jack's presence in the restaurant, Sarah wasn't about to go into some of the more esoteric details of what had happened.

Harry's colour was starting to return to normal. "How would you know what I think? And when have you ever cared about my opinion?" He relented and grinned. "I don't think I ever got used to him flirting with everything that moves." Reaching over, he took her hand. "Will left me a note explaining everything. I think he regretted his involvement with the Orb- with what he got involved in." Clearly, Harry was also overly aware of Jack's presence. Neither of them would want Torchwood and the Orbus Postremo crossing paths. "So what have you been up to lately? I heard a rumour that you adopted a son." His tone was incredulous. "I never saw you as the motherly type."

Even though he had changed the subject, Sarah suspected that he'd return to it later in private. Sarah smiled and related the story of how Luke had come into her life, or at least the one she told in public. She had every intention of letting him take her home, so that they could have a proper conversation, but for now this would have to do. The talk turned to more general matters-- what she'd been up to, what he could say about his work, the Doctor-- and Jack was mostly forgotten, but he'd served his purpose, and Harry never commented about how late she'd been.

_A bottle of red, a bottle of white  
Whatever kind of mood you're in tonight  
I'll meet you anytime you want  
In our Italian Restaurant._


End file.
